Transit hub reopens after $12.M makeover

Transportation Minute

Starting Monday, there will be a new transit choice for commuters along North County’s busy Interstate 15 corridor.

That’s when the Sabre Springs/Penasquitos Transit Station is set to reopen following a year-long, $12.2 million makeover.

Transit officials hope the station, which features everything from a bicycle parking building to electric vehicle charging stations, becomes a destination for commuters who want an alternative to driving.

The biggest addition is a four-story garage which boosts parking to 630 spaces, up from about 200 before the remodel. Users will also find new digital displays showing available parking and designated parking for clean-air vehicles and vanpools.

Officials say the station will serve as a central hub for expanded rapid bus service, expected to launch on the I-15 corridor this summer and connect riders from North County to downtown San Diego, using the I-15 express lanes. Another rapid bus route, connecting Rancho Bernardo to UC San Diego, is also expected to use the Sabre Springs station and begin later in the year.

The station attracted about 200 vehicles per weekday before the renovation, said Frank Owsiany, who oversees station improvements along the inland corridor for the San Diego Association of Governments, the region’s transportation planning agency.

He said SANDAG expects a gradual increase in demand for the station’s 630 spaces in coming years, with the station reaching capacity by 2030.

Not everyone is convinced the agency needed to spend $12.2 million on the project.

“This is a monstrous example of spending other people’s money. This is the Taj Mahal of parking structures,” Ed Denaci, a retiree from Rancho Penasquitos, said as he toured the hub before a ribbon cutting ceremony this week.

Asked to respond to Denaci’s comments after the ribbon cutting, Jack Dale, SANDAG’s chairman, said building the same bare-bones transit hubs of the past won’t help the agency achieve its goals of boosting transit ridership and lowering vehicle emissions.

He said the commuters of tomorrow will be driving electric cars and demanding better transit.